This invention relates to the production of a meat emulsion product having a layered, meat-like appearance and texture. More particularly the invention relates to a method of processing a meat emulsion under conditions which result in the production of a layered, non-expanded product in the form of chunks or pieces which simulate natural meat chunks in texture, appearance, and consistency.
Meat emulsions, which are comminuted meat products, are well known in the food industry and are widely used in the production of products such as balogna, frankfurters and other sausage products. Such meat emulsion products are prepared by mixing, chopping, and emulsifying a mixture of raw meat materials, such as lean skeletal beef and pork and meat by-products, with ice, salt, spices and curing salts in such a manner as to produce an emulsion which contains fine fat particles coated with protein dissolved from the meat ingredients. The resulting meat emulsion is then stuffed into suitable casings, which serve as processing molds, and are heated at increasing temperatures of from 55.degree. C. to 77.degree. C. for extended periods of time which may vary between about 1 to 8 hours or more, depending on the volume of the meat emulsion being processed. Upon such heating, the protein in the meat emulsion coagulates or sets solid and entraps the fat particles in the protein matrix thereby forming a firm meat emulsion product. Such meat emulsion products are a uniform homogeneous mass which contain no discrete particles of meat and retain the shape of the casing when set.
In recent years in order to reduce the cost of certain food products to consumers, there has been an increasing demand for chunky food products which resemble chunks or pieces of natural meat in appearance, texture and physical structure, and which may be used as a partial or complete replacement for the more expensive natural meat chunks in food products such as stews, pot pies, casseroles, canned foods and pet food products. Chunky meat products are highly desirable in both human foods and pet foods both from aesthetic quality and consumer appeal. Because of this desirability and the high ingredient cost of natural meat chunks, there is a need for replacement of such expensive natural meat chunks in foods with more economical chunky products which simulate natural meat chunks in shape, appearance and texture, and which retain their shape, appearance and texture when subjected to commercial canning and retorting procedures.
Heretofore, efforts directed to providing such simulated natural meat chunks have been directed to producing such products from vegetable protein sources using extrusion-expansion techniques. Although the products of such extrusion-expansion procedures have met with some acceptance in the food industry, their use has been limited primarily to use as meat extenders. Since such products lack the appearance and texture of natural meat they are not generally suitable for use as full substitutes for meat. Similarly, meat emulsion products produced by conventional procedures, which are in the form of a uniform, homogeneous mass, lack the structure, texture and appearance of natural meat chunks and are not suitable for use in applications in which the use of simulated natural meat chunks is desired.